Bridge
The bridge is the starship equivalent of an operations center and is generally located near the top and front of a vessel. From here, the commanding officer supervises the entire ship's operation, ranging from vessel course control to tactical systems. Starfleet bridge design On Starfleet starships, the bridge is usually located on Deck 1, on top of the vessel's primary hull. The bridge is the nerve-center of every starship, and it is manned by the top officers of each department except for Engineering. There is typically an Engineering station that the Chief Engineer will use when on the bridge. From here, the commanding officer supervises the entire ship's operation. When seated in the command chair, typically located in the center of the room, the commander has visual access to all major personnel stations and viewscreens, facilitating the decision-making process. By the mid-24th century, it has become standard that a first officer is assigned to assist a ship's captain in this process. The forward bulkhead of the bridge is typically dominated by the main viewscreen. Directly in front of this is usually the helm console, from where navigation and vessel course control are carried out. Many of the supportive stations that were present on 23rd century bridges were combined into one by the 24th century; that of the operations manager. Some bridges feature the operations console alongside the helm station, from where the officer on duty has access to internal systems control, communications, sensor systems, resource scheduling and hardware and system usage. Still, each bridge typically features supportive consoles for engineering, gravity control, damage control, environmental engineering, sciences and library computer, and internal security, most of these not being necessarily manned under normal circumstances. Most bridges on Starfleet vessels are replaceable modules, so that adaptation to special missions or upgrading the ship is facilitated. Features Command stations The bridge command stations provide seating and information displays for the commanding officer and one or two other officers, typically including the first officer (though in past times, usually a senior bridge officer doubled as first officer). The command chairs are located in the center of the bridge, designed to maximize interaction with all key bridge personnel, while permitting an unobstructed view of the main viewscreen. Typically, the armrests of the captain's chair feature miniaturized status displays. Using keyboard or vocal commands, the captain can use these controls to override the basic operation of the starship. Flight Control The 24th century Flight Control position evolved from the 23rd century helm and navigation positions. Also referred to as Conn, the officer manning the Flight Control console is responsible for the actual piloting and navigation of the starship. Despite many of these functions being heavily automated, their criticality demands a humanoid officer to oversee these operations at all times. During spaceflight at impulse, Conn is responsible for monitoring relativistic effects as well as inertial damping system status. When travelling at warp speed, Conn is required to monitor the subspace field geometry in parallel with the engineering department. During warp flight, the Conn console continually updates long-range sensor data and makes automatic course corrections to adjust for minor variations in the density of the interstellar medium. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual) Operations management Many shipboard operations involve scheduling resources or hardware that affect a number of departments. In many such cases, it is common for various operations to present conflicting requirements. It is the responsibility of the operations manager to coordinate such activities so that mission goals are not jeopardized. The operations position (also known simply as "Ops") evolved from older 23rd century positions. The bulk of the duties held by the helm and navigation positions were combined into the Conn position. Other functions of the helm panel, such as internal systems control, became the purview of Ops, as have some communications and sensor system usages. (Star Trek: The Next Generation) The Ops panel presents the operations officer with a continually updated list of current major shipboard activities. This list permits Ops to set priorities and allocate resources among current operations. This is especially critical in cases where two or more requests require the use of the same equipment, entail mutually exclusive mission profiles, or involve some unusual safety or tactical considerations. During away team missions or emergency situations, the Ops station is supported by the Science Station, found at the rear of the bridge in Galaxy-class designs. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual) Security and Tactical The bridge station dedicated to defensive systems control and starship internal security is Tactical. Parts of the default control layout presents the security officer with information readouts dealing with the internal protection of the starship and its crew. A wide variety of starship defensive systems are available to the chief tactical officer (sometimes doubling as chief of security), ranging from the defensive shields to the phaser and torpedo systems. Other systems that may be commanded by Tactical include long- and short-range sensor arrays, sensor probes, message buoys, and tractor beam devices. Supportive stations Every Starfleet bridge also includes several supportive consoles and backup stations. These may include consoles for Planetary sciences, Engineering, Mission Ops and Environmental Control. Most of these are meant to relieve the senior bridge officers of secondary duties during alert and crisis situations. Mission Ops provides additional support to the operations manager, and is specifically responsible for monitoring activity relating to secondary missions. Mission Ops is responsible for assignment of resources and priorities according to guidelines specified by the operations manager and by operating protocols. This station is also responsible for monitoring away teams. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual) The Environmental Control console provides similar relief to the operations manager, monitoring the starship's life support systems. Due to the highly automated nature of these systems, this console would be unattended under normal circumstances, but becomes of crucial importance during alert situations to maximize crew survivability. The bridge's Engineering station duplicates in simplified form the Chief Engineer's primary status displays from Main Engineering. The purpose of this station is to permit the Chief Engineer to maintain supervision over engineering system while on the bridge. ---- 22nd century bridge design NX-class *'See' NX-class main bridge 23rd century bridge design Most of the bridges during the later half the 23rd century shared a similar layout to that of the upgraded Constitution class vessels, which evidently set the standard for bridge design and layout. Constitution-class * See: ''Constitution''-class main bridge Oberth-class *'See': ''Oberth''-class main bridge Miranda-class *'See': ''Miranda''-class main bridge Excelsior-class *'See': ''Excelsior''-class main bridge ---- 24th century bridge design In the early half of the 24th century, before the introduction of the Galaxy-class starship, bridge design was based on the succesful layout of the Constitution-class starship, featuring a single captain's chair in the centre of the room with two consoles directly in front of it and additional consoles surrounding this central command area. Background information The bridges of the ''Ambassador''-, ''Constellation''- and ''Nebula''-classes were all three redresses of the same set, first built, partially, for TNG: "The Battle". The same set eventually also ended up for the ''Olympic''-class starship ''Pasteur'', Beverly Crusher's ship in the anti-time future of 2395. Galaxy-class * See: ''Galaxy''-class main bridge Intrepid-class The ''Intrepid''-class bridge was ovoid in shape. At the bridge's rear was a large bank of consoles and data-readout screens. Center of that area was the Master Systems Display. Control consoles flanked it on either side. Starboard of that information center, past the starboard side turbolift, was the chief tactical officer's console. This area was maintained mostly for internal security and combat situations. An identical station could be found on the other side of the bridge, where the operations console was found. Two turbolifts provided access throughout the ship, and there was an emergency ladder which connected the bridge with lower decks. Forward of the upper ship operations areas were doorways to the briefing room at one side, and the captain's ready room at the other. Directly forward of the central command area (where the captain and first officer were seated) and sunken down by two steps was the Conn. From here, the flight control officer served as helmsman and navigator for the vessel. To the Conn's right sat the chief engineer. The console allowed complete control over all engineering systems. Directly opposite sat the chief science officer in a similar console. (VOY: "Caretaker") Background information After six years as production designer on The Next Generation, Richard James was no stranger to the legacy of Star Trek and the production requirements of episodic television. When given the assignment to create a new starship from the inside out, he had to start up from scratch. Nothing had yet been established, and thus for his first meeting with Star Trek: Voyager's creators and producers, James decided to push the boundaries of everything that had gone before. Early concept sketches show bridge designs without the large viewscreen in the front of the bridge and command functions decetranlized, obviously breaking the traditional bridge mold. However, by exhaustively reexamining the dramatic requirements and technological underpinnings of the Star Trek bridge without preconceptions, James rediscovered the strengths of the basic template laid out by Matt Jefferies almost thirty years earlier. But with the broad strokes of the bridge's layout firmly embedded in Star Trek's past, James and his team went on to bring a fresh new interpretation to the heart of every Star Trek adventure, investing it with a sleek, efficient, and welcoming appearance that made Voyager something of its own – the Star Trek for the nineties and beyond. Sovereign-class The central area of the Main Bridge provided seating and information displays for the captain and two other officers. The captain's chair was raised from the rest of the bridge officers, to that of the surrounding level which included Tactical and Operations. The two officer seats were equipped with fully programmable consoles for a variety of uses. Directly fore of the command area was the Conn officer, who faced the main viewer. To the port side of the Conn officer, also facing the main viewer, was the operations manager's console, which was identical in size and design to the helm station. At the very front of the bridge chamber was a large viewscreen. When the screen was not active, a standard bulkhead was present. Aft and to the left of the command area was an elevated platform on which tactical and security consoles were located. To the captain's right, behind the tactical console, was the Mission Operations section of the bridge. Against the port side walls of the main bridge were the consoles for Sciences along with others that were programmable for a multitude of functions. Located against the aft wall of the bridge was a large Master Systems Display monitor, similar to the one in Main Engineering. All relevant ship information (such as damage, power distribution, etc.) was displayed on the cutaway image of the vessel. This monitor could be used to direct ship operations and could be configured for limited flight control if necessary. Also located against the aft wall of the main bridge was the large Engineering console. This had a smaller cutaway diagram of the vessel, which displayed all engineering-relevant data and showed warp fields and engine output. There were two turbolifts on the bridge that could handle normal transit around the Sovereign class starship. Besides, there was an emergency ladder that connected the bridge to lower decks. There was also one door, on the aft platform of the bridge, that led to the Observation Lounge, directly aft of the Main Bridge, with another door leading to the captain's ready room. (Star Trek: First Contact) Defiant-class The bridge layout of the ''Defiant''-class was compact, but nonetheless accommodated the familiar Engineering, Tactical, Science, Conn, and Ops stations. The bridge module was sunken into a much larger Deck 1 than on most Federation starships to provide added protection during combat situations. Access to the bridge was provided by two doorways at the back, located on both port and starboard sides. Just forward of the starboard entryway was the location of the ship's dedication plaque, as well as an auxiliary computer access panel. The port side of the bridge housed the Engineering and Tactical I stations, while the starboard side featured the Science and Tactical II consoles. Because of its nearly exclusive role as a combat vessel, stations aboard Defiant-class vessels were designed with speed in mind. The center of the bridge featured the lone captain's chair, which was on a raised platform and had a clear view of all bridge stations, as well as of the main viewscreen. On both sides of the command chair were separate control panels, allowing the occupant access to virtually every system aboard the ship. Between the command chair and the viewscreen was an integrated flight control and operations panel, capable of performing the joint duties of those stations' larger counterparts on other Starfleet vessels. Like all of the bridge stations on Defiant, the Conn had been designed for maximum speed and efficiency of commands input by the operator, allowing the craft to be handled almost like a fighter when under the hands of a skilled pilot. Flanking both sides of the viewscreen were two Tactical stations, which had primary access to the ship's powerful pulse phaser cannons, torpedo launchers and various other special ordinance packages. Working closely with Conn, the officers stationed at these consoles were responsible for firing the various weapons aboard the Defiant-class starship during combat operations. The purpose of the Tactical II station was to lighten the load on its sister station, particularly in battle. ''Prometheus''-class *'See': ''Prometheus''-class main bridge Nova-class * See: ''Nova''-class main bridge Alien bridge design Klingon bridge design K't'inga-class * See: ''K't'inga''-class main bridge Bird-of-Prey * See: Klingon Bird-of-Prey main bridge Vor'cha-class *'See' ''Vor'cha''-class main bridge Romulan bridge design Bird-of-Prey *'See' Romulan Bird-of-Prey main bridge D'deridex-class * See: ''D'deridex''-class main bridge Valdore-type *'See': ''Valdore''-type main bridge Scimitar * See: ''Scimitar'' main bridge Bridge designs of other species Borg The Borg possessed the only known vessels not to have a discrete bridge, but whose controls were instead highly decentralized, being run collectively by the Borg drones. (TNG: "Q Who?") However, Borg ships did have a command center known as the central plexus. Dominion Jem'Hadar attack ships had a bridge that was very peculiar in that it had no chairs, and only two head-mounted virtual display devices instead of a viewscreen. Only the Jem'Hadar First and leading Vorta were allowed to view the outside of the ship. (DS9: "The Changing Face of Evil") Son'a * See: Ru'afo's flagship main bridge Mirror Universe bridge design NX-class )]] )]] The bridge of the Terran Empire's NX-class ''Enterprise'' was quite similar in appearance to that of its counterpart from our universe, only that it featured Terran Empire emblems painted on the walls. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly") The bridge of Admiral Black's flagship, the [[ISS Avenger|ISS Avenger]], was similar in appearance to that of the Enterprise. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II") Constitution-class Similarily, the only differences between the bridge of the 23rd century [[ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|Imperial Star Ship Enterprise]] from the Mirror Universe and its counterpart from ours was the appearance of Terran Empire emblems appearing on walls and doors, and a high-backed throne-like command chair. Also, guards were stationed on the bridge under all circumstances. (TOS: "Mirror, Mirror") Defiant-class The bridge of the Terran Rebellion's ''Defiant'' was similar to that of the ''Defiant''-class bridge from our universe, the vessel's schematics being based on specifications stolen from Starfleet at Deep Space 9. (DS9: "Shattered Mirror") Appendices Background information *The concept of replaceable bridge modules on Starfleet vessels allows the usage of different bridge sceneries for the same starship class, and so explains why the bridge of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A)|USS Enterprise-A]] was different in all movies it appeared in and why both the ''Miranda''- and ''Galaxy''-class starships were seen with different types of bridges. *A common criticism of the Starfleet bridge is that it is relatively exposed right at the top of the ship with little armor to protect it, making the bridge a prominent target. Non-canon explanation for this is that it is one of the most heavily shielded regions of a ship. The precarious location of the bridge was finally addressed in ENT: "Twilight", when the Xindi shot off the Enterprise NX-01's bridge, killing the entire bridge crew... in an alternate reality. *"Family" was the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which no scene is set on the bridge. See also * Operations center Sources * Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, Michael Okuda and Rick Sternbach, Pocket Books, 1991. * The Art of Star Trek, Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Pocket Books, 1997. * Short interview with designer Andrew Probert, OTTENS, July 2005. * Interview with Matt Jefferies, BBC Online. External Links * Category:Starship sections de:Brücke nl:Brug